Ramen Noodles....

The inventor of the packaged ramen noodles has decided to retire.

Momofuku Ando, credited with inventing instant noodles, is quitting the frontline of the food business at 95 after seeing his cups of quick, hot and inexpensive meals sweep the world.

I used to live on ramen noodles when I was in school because they were cheap and I could add all kinds of vegetable and other goodies to it to make a feast!

The history of ramen noodles can be found here. Ramen noodles are a traditional noodle variety in China but it is unclear when it was introduced to Japan. Also, the instant variety wasn't invested until 1958 by the above mentioned, Mr. Momofuku Ando. Ramen is made from wheat flour which was imported and became more widely available during the occupation of US troops in Japan after WWII.

Even though it is a newcomer, it is unclear by whom, when or where "ramen" was introduced to Japan. The name "Ramen" itself is a topic of debate. The most traditional hypothesis, one in an encyclopedia, claims that "Ramen" came from "拉麺" (la mian) and means "hand pulled noodles". A second hypothesis claims that "老麺" (lao mian) was the proper Chinese character. A third hypothesis from Sapporo claims that it was only called "Mian" (麺). A Chinese cook who made Mian answered "La." (了) (literally okay) to an order and it was written down as "Ramen" in the menu. Some claim that ramen was really "Liu mian" (柳麺) (literally Mr. Liu's noodle) and the name was taken from a cook named Liu in Tokyo. A fifth version claims that it was "鹵麺" (Lümian) and a Lümian is a noodle with a thick starchy sauce. Since the name "Ramen" became popular only in the 1960s when instant ramen was invented, it is also claimed that the name "Ramen" was popularized by the "instant ramen".

There are health concerns with instant ramen noodles and my wife, a Hong Kong Chinese, considers them junk food. The principal ingredients are flour, oil and salt.

Ramen soup, especially the instant variety, contains a high amount of sodium. Many Japanese people also believe that ramen soup contains a high amount of fat and also that pre-fried fat from the noodles seeps into the soup. Ramen noodles themselves contain very little sodium so one can avoid drinking the soup if a low-sodium diet is recommended for health reasons. A typical serving of ramen, even when drinking all of the soup, has less food energy than a fast-food menu consisting of a hamburger, soda, and fries.

Some brands of instant ramen use hydrogenated vegetable fat (ie. trans fat), which is known to be harmful to the body, and so these brands are best avoided.

Also, for you outdoors types, instant ramen noodles are great fire starters!

A variety of different flavors are now available including bugs, french fries, Buffalo chicken wings...

"All of our flavors use the best ingredients. The bugs for instance, especially high in protein, are selected from the choicest variety of ants, cockroaches, houseflies, and other miscellaneous insects. I can't wait to see the results of our other new nontraditional products," said Fujimaki. "Last year sales went down big time when we introduced our American Favorites: ramen, including flavors like Hot Dog, Taco meat, sardine, bacon, and ketchup. But this year we're expecting a home run from every corner. That's a bunch of home runs. Go USA!"

Also among these up-and-coming flavors are mouse, pea-pea/poo-poo, frumunda cheese, and the much-anticipated lung chunk.

Spike, Park-n-Shop doesn't carry these flavors does it? I really wonder what the mouse flavor or pea-pea/poo-poo tastes like!